“Number 65,409 please come to the nearest window” The booming voice said. The woman took a breath. It hadn’t been long since the glowing white creature had vaporized the murderer. She scanned the counter, and realized the window assigned to her was the same window that he had just ran from. On unsteady legs she rose from her chair, and started making her way to the window. She was careful to avoid where the glowing creature had been, instead slipping through the gap between chairs to get to the tiled floor ahead.

  As she walked towards the open window, the woman inspected the various other beings whose number had already been called. She passed the old man with the gummy mouth and strange nose hairs. He looked slightly disappointed, but still happy, as he flipped through some kind of touch screen display with intense focus. The golden retriever was also still at the counter, the clerk who was helping the dog was giving it headpats and smiling. From what she could see, none of the other clerks looked as happy as the one helping the dog.

  She continued walking, and passed more and more creatures that looked nonsensical. There was a large lizard man, who was hissing at the clerk helping him. The clerk was hissing back. She passed a djinn, a bunny with chicken legs and eye stalks, and a large snake that was coiled up on the counter. None of them gave her a second glance as she walked past them, trying not to stare, and in some cases, failing miserably.

  When she was finally nearing her assigned window, the woman walked past a handsome raven haired fellow. He was tall, slim, and very pale. His hair was long, and fell past his shoulders and down his back. As she was observing him, he turned and made eye contact with her. His eyes were black with red irises, an orange slit in the place of his pupil.

  The woman’s face flushed, and she noticed that when he turned, his long hair pulled away from his back. It had been covering a set of black reptilian wings. One of the wings seemed to wave to her, and as she looked back to his face, he winked.

  She looked at her feet and picked up her pace. Definitely not human, she thought to herself, and her face felt hot as she heard his deep sultry laugh.

  Basically speed walking at this point, it didn’t take long for her to close the distance to her designated window. She glanced up at the woman who did not flinch at the murderer’s attempted attack. The clerk's form was smooth and lithe, her face sharp and pointed. The clerk was rubbing her temples, and didn’t seem to notice her approach. She was wearing a nametag that labeled her as “Betty”.

  The woman gently cleared her throat to get Betty’s attention.

  Betty opened her eyes and forced a smile to her face, exposing teeth that were too long and pointed. It took a lot for the woman not to step back in fright, which the clerk, of course, noticed and frowned slightly before speaking. “Give me a ssecond to pull up your file… Okay. It ssays that you haven’t been here before. That’ss quite rare, mind you. You wouldn’t believe the amount of people that die on a daily bassis.” When Betty spoke, a fork tongue shot in and out of her mouth.

  The woman took another step forward, and went up on her tiptoes to have a closer look at Betty before responding. From the waist down, Betty was a snake. She faltered for a minute and then responded.

  “So I’m really dead?” The woman asked hesitantly, “Can you tell me how I died?”

  “Yes.” Betty responded, looking down at a screen that lit her face with pale blue light. “Your family took you off of life support.”

  “Life support?”

  “Yess. It looks like you were in a coma for many yearss.” Betty’s face was apologetic, but stern, as if she had given similar news many times before.

  The woman’s mind raced, and then stumbled. It did make sense. The haze of half remembered conversations and memories, the years missing, how old she was… She realized that she was holding her breath, and let it out in a long and slow exhale. “Can you tell me what happened to my family?”

  “Unfortunately, your file only contains your life. The most I can see is that they came to visit you periodically.”

  “Would it be possible for you to tell me about what they were like when they came to visit?” She asked, her eyes pleading.

  “I can… show you some moments if you’d like.” Betty said. The woman nodded vigorously, and Betty gestured for her to give her her hand. She complied.

  The woman’s vision briefly went dark before she was transported - looking down at herself in a hospital bed. A familiar man sat beside her, holding her hand as he talked about his day, about meeting a woman that he liked. About how he missed her and her teasing. He apologized that their parents didn’t visit.

  The scene switched, and she was older. The man was back again, with a comely yet angular woman. The man introduced the woman to her, but she didn’t respond. She tried to. To get her body to move and say something, to say anything, but she could only observe.

  More and more scenes swam across her vision and across the years. It was almost always the man who visited - she instinctively knew that he was her brother. Sometimes he came with his wife and children, most of the time he came alone. The chair he sat in was worn and used. Each time he talked to her, giving her updates on his life, news of his family. The woman took solace in the lives he spoke of, and the life he had built for himself.

  Eventually she watched a memory where her hands looked as they do now. Her hair was gray, her face withered. The man was there. He was old like she was, and was introducing her to a new baby. His children - now adults - were standing and looking on fondly. They were smiling a sad smile, watching the old man talk to his lost sister. He was introducing a little baby to her - a baby that was named after her.

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  She drew all of her attention to the man, but when he said the baby’s name, the woman didn’t hear anything. She realized that anytime a name was mentioned, it was completely erased. She couldn’t remember her own name. She panicked. How did I not realize that I don’t know my own name?

  Abruptly, she was removed from the vision. Betty was sitting across from her and grimacing.

  The woman stared into Betty’s eyes, and took multiple shaky breaths before talking.

  “Why can’t I remember my name?”

  “I’m sorry” Betty replied, “They take them once you die.”

  “What? Who?”

  “Whoever controls this.” Betty gestured around her to the endless room.

  “Why?! Why would they take my name?” The woman asked.

  “Apparently it helps with transitioning into your new state of being.”

  “But…” the woman trailed off and pointed to Betty’s name tag.

  “Oh that.” Betty rolled her eyes. “My name isn’t actually Betty. Can you imagine? A Yuan-Ti being named Betty?” She cackled and it sounded strange, reptilian, and alien. “It’s just one of the rules. I get a new tag periodically.”

  The woman forced a hollow chuckle, even as her stomach dropped and her mouth went dry. “Well anyway, thank you for showing me that.” She said, “It helped, and meant a lot to me.”

  The snake woman’s eyes softened as she gazed back at her. “Should we move on to your tokens?”

  “Sure,” The woman responded.

  “Tokens are the currency of this place. You may spend what you’ve earned in life to choose what happens next.” ‘Betty’ responded.

  “How many do I have?”

  “One thousand.”

  “Is that a lot?”

  ‘Betty’ actually winced before responding. “No. I’ll pull up the menu for you, so you can see what your options are.” As she finished talking, a faint blue screen materialized in front of the woman.

  The woman’s breath hitched as she looked through the menu. Once she finished, she stated, “The only one I can afford is ‘Atonement’. What does that mean exactly?”

  “Atonement is where you go to earn enough tokens to be reincarnated. The standard rate is one token per fifty years.” Betty sighed and looked down at the screen in front of her. “The closest thing you have from your world’s mythology would be the concept of Hell or The Underworld.”

  The woman’s breath caught in her throat. She clenched her fists, her voice breaking as she yelled, “How is that fair? I only have enough tokens for hell?!”

  ‘Betty’ straightened in her chair, and scanned her eyes back and forth. “What a day…” She mumbled under her breath before responding, “Look. It’s really not as bad as it seems. I’m in atonement right now, working at this desk.”

  The clerk’s expression brought a flash of memories to the woman’s eyes, of a murderer being frozen in spot, his flesh burning to crisp and flaying from his body. A cold sweat ran down her back, and she forced herself to calm down as frustrated tears ran down her cheeks.

  “I’m sorry, but how do I only have enough tokens for atonement? I didn’t do anything that bad in my life! I didn’t even get to live most of my life because I was in a coma.”

  Betty hesitated, and looked down at her screen. After a short moment she replied, “You make a good point. It looks like you had enough tokens to be reincarnated, but many were taken away due to you not progressing in your goals and stagnating.”

  The woman’s mouth dropped. “Are you serious? I was IN A COMA. I didn’t want to be in a coma or ‘stagnate’.” She sucked in a breath, “This is not fair!”

  ‘Betty’ stared at her, thinking. She took a breath and responded, “You’re right. Let me see what I can do.” The snake lady seemed to pause, a silky white film covered her eyes and she sat motionless in her seat.

  Unclenching her fists, the woman realized that there was a small amount of blood in her palm, welling up from indentations left from her fingernails. Her mind rushed through a million terrible ways she would have to atone, but she slowly forced herself to focus on other things. She looked around and took in the scene around her.

  The dog and old man were gone, as was the handsome demonic fellow. A few windows down from her, a cat was sitting on the counter with its leg above its head, cleaning itself and ignoring the screen floating in front of it. The clerk with the cat rolled her eyes, but had a small smirk on her lips. Well I guess cats aren’t fazed by this whole situation. She thought to herself, idly wondering if cats really did have nine lives.

  The woman turned back to the floating screen in front of her, and as she stared at the word ‘Atonement’, a description popped up in front of her eyes.

  Atonement: This option is for those that did not achieve enough tokens. It is typically reserved for those who lived their lives in a way that requires more instruction. If this option is selected, you will earn 1 token per 50 years of torment. No Cost.

  The woman scoffed. Requires more instruction? That’s a joke. Also that rate is insane. It would take me… TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND YEARS? Her breath quickened, but she forced the resurfacing anxiety to the back of her mind. I need to be calm right now.

  She decided to gather more information. She was hoping the snake lady - ‘Betty’ - would be able to help her out, and wanted to be prepared just in case. ‘Betty’ was obviously frustrated, and had even said that she was currently in atonement. After witnessing how the murderer acted, and what had happened shortly after that… Well, she could see how this could be a personal hell for someone.

  She turned back to the menu, and mentally prodded each of the other options, reading each description that popped up in turn.

  Ascension: Ascend to a higher level of being. This option has pre-set conditions, and can only be accessed by those who have achieved magnanimous feats and accomplishments during their lives. Conditions not met.

  Elysium: Move your soul to Elysium, a veritable utopia where life is easy, relaxing, and wonderful. Spend your days doing whatever you desire and never have to worry again! Cost: 10,000 tokens.

  Reincarnation: Get a second chance at life. If you select this option, you will be reincarnated to a new world where you can attempt to live a more accomplished life. Upon selection, you will be given world, vessel, and ability options that you can spend your remaining tokens on. Cost: 1,500 tokens.

  Hidden: This option is not available to you. Description is unavailable. Requirements are unavailable. Cost is unavailable.

  She idly wondered why this was even on the list if she couldn’t see any information about it, but her thoughts were interrupted by a soft ding. Instinctively, she looked up to where her tokens were displayed, and watched the amount rapidly increase before settling in on 1,500. Thank the gods and everything holy in this creepy ass place, she thought to herself. A weight lifted off her shoulders, and she looked up to see Betty smiling at her.

  “I was able to get you your tokens back.” The snake lady said and nodded to the menu, “I’m guessing you know what you are going to choose?”

  “Yes. I’m going to choose reincarnation!”